Mention Of Books The Towers of the Sunset (The Saga of Recluce #2)

Title	:	The Towers of the Sunset (The Saga of Recluce #2)
Author	:	L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Book Format	:	Mass Market Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 536 pages
Published	:	August 15th 1993 by Tor Fantasy (first published 1992)
Categories	:	Fantasy. Fiction. Epic Fantasy. Magic

The Towers of the Sunset (The Saga of Recluce #2) Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 536 pages

Relation Supposing Books The Towers of the Sunset (The Saga of Recluce #2)

The first time I encountered The Saga of Recluce, I remember being somewhat bewildered by the progression from The Magic of Recluce to The Towers of the Sunset. Instead of picking up Lerris' story, as I would have expected of a traditional narrative, L. E. Modesitt Jr. catapults us back almost an entire millennium to tell the story of Creslin and the founding of Recluce.

Unusual and unorthodox, especially with the following book, The Magic Engineer, jumping forward again to a point between the two books, but that non-linear storytelling is part of the series' charm.

The Towers of the Sunset is part coming-of-age story and part quest tale, overlaid with a heavy dose of world-building. I'll get to the first two items in a moment, but I want to talk a bit about the world-building first. There are political, religious, and cultural elements introduced here that are absolutely fascinating. Where other authors would have settled for a typical matriarchy, Modesitt crafts a gender-flipped society where roles are reversed because of a mysterious mythology known as "The Legend" that adds a layer of intrigue to Creslin's story.

The other aspect of world-building that really excited me about this book in particular is the deeper exploration of the magic system, based not on good versus evil, but on chaos versus order. It's a fascinating system, well-defined, and based as much on science and philosophy as anything mystical. It's also the first fantasy novel I can remember that really wowed me with the use of magic. This is big-time magic, with large-scale spells that not only have impact, but consequences. The weather magic in particular is amazing, especially when Creslin has no clear concept of what he's doing or how, but it's even more interesting after the mechanics are explained.


Getting back to the story, the plotting of Creslin's coming-of-age is a little thin, and it jumps around a bit more than I would have liked, but it certainly has its moments. The mountainside escape from his mother's guards is great, and his magical enslavement on the Wizard's road breathes some new excitement into the tired old trope of lost memories. It's once he and Megaera finally come together, sharing a violent, tension-filled sea voyage to Recluce, that the story really takes off, and the way they begin building a new society is far more interesting than you might expect.

Along the way, Modesitt explores some complex questions of power, morality, gender politics, and family drama. Some of those concepts seem a little dated on a reread but, looking back over a quarter century, it reminds me of how daring and innovative they were for the time. The Towers of the Sunset may seem a bit simple and straightforward, compared to the complex doorstopper epics of today, but it's an entertaining read that doesn't have a single soft spot or slow moment in the narrative.


http://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.com/2...

Itemize Books As The Towers of the Sunset (The Saga of Recluce #2)

Original Title:	The Towers of the Sunset
ISBN:	0812519671 (ISBN13: 9780812519679)
Edition Language:	English
Series:	The Saga of Recluce #2, Recluce Zyklus #2, The Saga of Recluce (Chronological) , more

Rating Of Books The Towers of the Sunset (The Saga of Recluce #2)

Ratings: 3.92 From 9163 Users | 177 Reviews

Criticize Of Books The Towers of the Sunset (The Saga of Recluce #2)

One of my favorite books of all time is The Towers of the Sunset by L.E. Modesitt Jr. First Published in 1992, it was for me a watershed book, introducing me to the world of Recluce. Though it is the second installment in the series, it is a stand alone book and is a prequel to the classic, The Magic of Recluce. I am a huge fan of Modesitt's style. He writes with an economy of words, and yet you are drawn into his world, to the exclusion of everything else. The Blurb:Okay, there is no blurb.

The Towers of the Sunset is the second book of the Recluce saga. However, instead of depicting events that occur subsequent to the ending of the first book, it jumps back in time to before the island of Recluce was established. Overall, it's a good read if you liked Modesitts first novel. The Plot There are two kinds of societies in Modesitt's world, ones that respect "The Legend" and ones that don't. What "the Legend" exactly is isn't spelled out in the book, although some "quotes" from the

Nothing exciting - about the struggle to establish early Recluce.Touches on magic, politics, adventure, intrigue and romance but i wouldn't say any particular element stands out.

OMG this book series had better get better and quickly.Recommended by a great friend as one of his favorite fantasy series of all time, I'm finding it a slog to get through.I won't get into not having a description of the story on the back of the book, but if you're going to write a series that jumps around in time in your world, you should be writing in clues for the reader to know WHEN they are reading about.Next, the characters in this story are whiny and boring. I am not connected to any of

Annoying is all I have to say.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, with the male/female role reversal. The young man, Creslin, who is kept in seclusion to be pure for marriage, the reluctance to teach him fighting skills because he will have women to defend him, his major life role to be a consort to a powerful woman somewhere. And because he has insisted on learning to fight and to ski, we get a runaway groom instead of a runaway bride! Ive read this particular pattern with a female lead character quite often and it